CUCUMBER 



303 



commonly known as 

 the English (Fig. 99) 

 and the American (Fig. 

 100). The English va- 

 rieties are seldom 

 grown out of doors. 

 While they possess 

 special merit in some 

 respects for forcing, 

 they have not met with 

 general favor in this 

 country. The quality 

 of the fruit does not 

 seem to appeal to our 

 consumers. The plants 

 are thrifty in growth; 

 they develop thick 

 stems and large leaves 

 and are exceedingly 

 prolific. The fruits vary 

 in length from a foot to 

 2 feet or more, and in- 

 dividual specimens have been grown which weighed over 

 10 pounds, though this is more than double the size of 

 normal English cucumbers. The green, cylindrical fruits 

 contain few seeds. The American type, best represented 

 by White Spine, is extensively grown in nearly all of our 

 vegetable-forcing establishments. The plants are vigor- 

 ous in growth, though not equal in this respect to those 

 of the English class. The length of typical fruits is usu- 

 ally about three times their thickness, but the fruits of 

 the various strains show marked variation in this par- 

 ticular. 



English varieties. The Telegraph, shown by the long- 

 est specimen in Fig. 101, is the best known and the most 

 largely cultivated of the English varieties in this country. 



Fig. 100. 

 Good specimens of White Spine cucumber. 



